Fungi ident please

[Perkins]

These have recently emerged all over the flare roots of some grand firs.

They're near the house so I'd be interested to know if they're detrimental to

the trees' health.

 

[Bundle 2]

One of the Lycoperdon species...search the fungi directory in saprophytic !

 

( Puff Balls- Earth balls ! )

[Fungus]

One of the Lycoperdon species ...

 

... is L. perlatum.

[MATTMOSS]

my suggestion would be Lycoperdon perlatum.

[Bundle 2]

I wasnt going to make it so easy for him...! I thought the voyage of discovery might be a good thing but hey...!

Interestingly, I searched for "Lycoperdon" in the directory search field and it returned "no results"...surely it can do better than that guys ?

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I wasnt going to make it so easy for him...! I thought the voyage of discovery might be a good thing but hey...!

Interestingly, I searched for "Lycoperdon" in the directory search field and it returned "no results"...surely it can do better than that guys ?

 

Agreed!

 

OI MR HUMPHRIES!

[David Humphries]

I wasnt going to make it so easy for him...! I thought the voyage of discovery might be a good thing but hey...!

Interestingly, I searched for "Lycoperdon" in the directory search field and it returned "no results"...surely it can do better than that guys ?

 

Tim, if you search the directory A-Z using the key word function and setting to 'title' not 'description', then you would have found that it does come up with Lycoperdon.

 

 

It's not quite as scratchy as some would believe .

[Perkins]

I wasnt going to make it so easy for him...! I thought the voyage of discovery might be a good thing but hey...!

Interestingly, I searched for "Lycoperdon" in the directory search field and it returned "no results"...surely it can do better than that guys ?

 

It worked a treat, and I enjoyed it tremendously. Found it easily by the way David. Fantastic resource. Thanks.

Later I also learned the difference between saprophytic and parasitic.

 

The question is, is the tree root dying or is the fungus living off the 'bark' layer shed from the outside of the root? Presumably roots work similarly to the upper parts of the tree? I've always wondered about this but never found a book that explains it without going over my head.

 

The fruiting bodies are clearly positioned along the line of the root.

 

Should I be concerned about this?

Edited November 22, 2011 by Perkins

[Fungus]

The question is, is the tree root dying or is the fungus living off the 'bark' layer shed from the outside of the root? The fruiting bodies are clearly positioned along the line of the root. Should I be concerned about this?

 

Lycoperdon perlatum is a pioneer saprotrophic, superficially decomposing dead litter, such as leaves, needles, small branches or twigs and bark, so there's no other effect on the roots than decay of the shedded bark and the already dead cambium.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Lycoperdon perlatum is a pioneer saprotrophic, superficially decomposing dead litter, such as leaves, needles, small branches or twigs and bark, so there's no other effect on the roots than decay of the shedded bark and the already dead cambium.

 

I will add that as far as puff balls are concerned its really only L. pyriforme that breaks down woody volumes of deadwood such as surface roots, hence its common name the stump puff ball. though scleroderma citrinum is a cake and eat it kind of puff ball acting as "both mycorrhizea and or saprophytic" (G. Keizer)